of Louisianians last summer weren't
large destructive hurricanes. Some
residents were threatened by a
deadly microscopic organism in water
systems that served their homes.
Called Naegleria fowleri, this brain-
eating ameba posed a risk to people
who relied on at least two public
water systems.
encephalitis, which tests confirmed
was caused by the Naegleria fowleri
ameba. The child contracted the
amoeba after playing on a Slip `n Slide
in St. Bernard Parish, a New Orleans
suburb, when water from the slide
went up the child's nose. A Louisiana
Department of Health and Hospitals' (DHH) epidemiological
investigation and extensive testing by the CDC determined the
cause of death and, in September, confirmed the presence of the
Naegleria fowleri ameba in the St. Bernard Parish water system.
earlier, a St. Bernard Parish resident and a DeSoto Parish resident
both died from infections caused by the ameba after cleansing
their sinuses with neti pots. Available tests on the respective water
systems, in 2011, did not detect the amoeba. Following the 2013
death, and with more sophisticated testing systems available,
Louisiana conducted further testing of the parish water system
in St. Bernard, confirming that the ameba was present. Out of an
abundance of caution, the state performed the same test at the
site of the other 2011 death and also confirmed the presence of
the ameba in the DeSoto Parish Waterworks District No. 1 water
system. Never before had this ameba been found in treated water
systems in this country. There was little to no chlorine residual in
the water systems where the ameba was found. State and federal
laws require a "trace" or "detectable" level of chlorine. A level of 0.5
mg/L is known to control the ameba.
commissioner. "The three who died didn't go swimming in bayous,
rivers or lakes, where you typically come in contact with the
ameba. The CDC told us they only do the ameba test where they
identify a case. Louisiana's was a unique situation, in that it came
from a treated drinking water system."
it was present in two water systems, proved to be a unique
communications challenge for DHH. Anyone who drank, bathed,
showered or swam in water from the affected water systems in
the two parishes was at risk -- but only if they got the water up
their noses. There is no rhyme or reason as to why the ameba
would make one person ill and not the other, which caused fear
in many residents who found it difficult to understand how the
water was safe to drink, but not to get in their noses.
communications staff and experts to craft simple, timely,
accurate and relevant messages, which were used consistently
with members of the media, on social media pages, with local